Zamboanga Adventure: Exploring Asia's Latin City (Lantaka Hotel by the Sea)

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Zamboanga was originally called the City of Flowers even before another city used it, and so apparently they gave way and just used the monicker Asia's Latin City instead to also highlight the Chavacano (Spanish-based creole language) speaking residents of the city.

This is probably why when I entered the lobby of the Lantaka Hotel by the Sea, there were so many flowers, aside from the cannons, used to decorate the place. Flowers do beautify everything including the vintage, and Lantaka Hotel by the Sea is a popular heritage site known all over the Philippines as Zamboanga's pride and foremost hotel.

Although vintage, the location of the hotel is more than perfect. Located at the NS Valderossa street, it is just a stone's throw away from everywhere else including the Zamboanga city hall, Paseo Del Mar, Fort Pilar, Plaza del Pilar,  and the newly constructed Cinematheque Zamboanga.

But what I consider the best part is the magnificent vantage point towards the crystalline waters of the Moro Gulf and the Basilan Island. You get to dine on the veranda of the in-house coffee shop and watch the sun rise and set on the beautiful Moro Gulf.

Zamboanga Seafood House: Muchas Gracias Por La Deliciosa Cena

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Buenas Dias to all and let me welcome you again as your friendly neighborhood pambansang blogger of the Philippines continue sharing with you another one of the many places we've been to during our four day visit to Asia's Latin City - the home of the only pink sand beach in the Philippines called the Grand and Little Santa Cruz Islands which we visited a few days ago.

Since we couldn't get enough of seafood, we visited another seafood restaurant for dinner during our last night in Zamboanga. We will be flying back to Manila later that night so we had to eat quick if we don't want to miss our Cebu Pacific flight. We also needed to go back to the Garden Orchid Hotel after dinner to get our stuff which we already packed earlier so it will be all ready for an immediate departure from the hotel.

Our gracious host picked the Zamboanga Seafood House located at Gov. Ramos Avenue of Barangay San Roque. It's my first time to hear about it so I was excited to try out another new restaurant so I can showcase it on my blog. I've always preferred to eat seafood because they say it's more nutritious and less fattening compared to the meat products like pork, beef and chicken. However, I do try my very best to balance my meals with small portions of each during every meal especially when its an eat-all-you-can buffet.

Zamboanga Adventure: Exploring Asia's Latin City (Ground Zero of the Zamboanga Siege)

Wazzup Pilipinas!

It may be grim sight to look at but it was a reality that we could not hide from the world but only accept that there are really times that we even though we are all Filipinos living in one country, we could not agree to work out our differences in a peaceful manner.

That building that now looked like Swiss cheese was formerly a school but ridden with holes by weapons from government forces so they can drive away the alleged spliter group of the Moro National Liberation Front  (MNLF) away from the town they recently occupied by force.

We will never really know what drive these seemingly misguided elements to do such horrible acts because we mostly heard only from the side of the government. But in wars like these there are really no winners. Both lose in their hope for peace and unity, and the real losers are the families whose lives were lost, their properties damaged, and quite a number of them displaced. The conflict had paralyzed the economic activity of Zamboanga City. I am honored that I am now helping the city regain its foothold on its former glory.

The residents affected were from the barangays of Sta. Catalina, Rio Hondo, Kasangyangan, Mariki, and Sta. Barbara. Some of them settled in evacuation and relief centers while some are all lined up at the boulevard named after Filipino politician Roseller T. Lim, "The Great Filibuster".